Tsuku Ie
by Zanza Writer-for-Hire
Summary: A little girl waits for her father to come home...Her father just happens to be a police officer working in Kyoto...(Finished one-shot)


"Wait! Wait for me! I wanna come too!"

"Get lost, Owari."

"Nobody wants you here."

"But, Hokori, I wanna go play too."

"You can't.

"You'd better go help your mother since you don't have a father to do it."

"I have a father, Koman!"

"Then where is he?"

"Yeah, where's your father?"

"…He's working." Little Owari bowed her head as she said it, her dark hair falling in her eyes. The truth was she had no clue where her father was. Her mother told her that he was doing important work, but Owari didn't know what he did. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen him.

"Working? Working where? Face it, you're the town shame. Everybody hates you." Eleven-year-old Koman whirled around to face the smaller girl. She and her sister Hokori positively hated Owari and enjoyed making her miserable. Both were older than Owari, came from an affluent family, and figured that gave them the right to do as they pleased.

Hokori, all of nine years old, stood glaring at Owari, her arms folded across her chest. Something about quiet, pensive Owari made her very angry. Maybe it was the way her expression never changed, or the cold look in her amber eyes, or just the way she always appeared to be sizing you up, but Hokori loathed the girl.

Owari lifted her head, her eyes burning through the Zankoku sisters. She was three years younger than Hokori and wanted nothing more than the acceptance of the other children. She didn't understand why they were so mean to her, but knew it somehow had something to do with the absence of her father.

"Don't look at me like that!" There was a resounding "smack" as Koman's hand connected with the little girl's cheek, "Can't you even cry when we tell you we hate you? You just stand there and stare at us through those yellow eyes. You creep me out, you freak!"

"Gomen nasai." Owari apologized quietly, raising a hand to her stinging cheek, "I can't help how I look. Mama says I look like Father. She says we have the eyes of a wolf."

"Shut up!" The other girl shrieked, "Shut up! I don't want to hear about your father! Not one more word, do you understand? I'll do more than just slap you! You don't have a father! And even if you did, he wouldn't want you. You're nothing but a dirty little brat!"

Owari sighed as the other two girls stormed away. She wanted to cry, but one of the few memories of the man she called father was his stern warning that she should be brave. She could see herself -smaller- seated on his lap, staring up at him as he told her "Never let any one scare you, Owari; be a brave, strong girl." She remembered the smell of tobacco on his clothes; his calm, collected voice; the way he brushed back a loose strand of her hair, but she couldn't recall what he looked like. His face was no more than a dark shadow.

"Father…" She looked up at the gray sky as she walked slowly away, "When will you come home?" 

*

Tokio was hanging clothes with several other women when her small daughter appeared in the yard. They had done a considerable amount of laundry and were putting it out to dry with the hope that the rain would hold off until after.

"Ohayo, Mama." Owari said softly from behind her.

"Back so -Owari!" Tokio turned around to look at the girl, "What happened to your face?"

"…" She looked at her feet, unsure what to say. She couldn't tell her mother that Iyashii Zankoku's daughters were the ones who had bullied her. If the other women gossiped about it -as they tended to do- word would get back to Shihai who, in turn, would tell her husband and then Iyashii himself would personally make Tokio's life a living hell. Owari didn't want her mother to suffer.

"Have the other children been picking on you again, Little One?" Tokio knelt down, drawing her daughter into her arms.

"Hai, Mama." Owari hugged her, "When will Father come back?"

"I don't know." Her mother sighed, "He has gone to do something very, very important. It may take a long time to do."

"What is he doing?" The little girl questioned seriously, her wolf-like eyes searching her mother's face for any sort of clue, "Why can I never know where Father goes? Is he a bad man like the other kids say?"

"You're father is not a bad man, Owari. Never listen to any one who says that." Tokio said firmly, moving a stray strand of hair out of Owari's face, "He is a good man and he loves you very much."

"If he loves me, why doesn't he come home?" The girl demanded, suddenly angry. She was angry with her mother for never telling her anything, angry with her father for leaving her and angry with every one who treated her like dirt because of something she couldn't control.

"Owari, your father-"

"No! I won't listen!" She pushed Tokio away, "All you ever do is tell me lies!" Her eyes welled up with tears, "Father doesn't love me! That's why he stays away…I'm a bad daughter…" Sobbing, Owari ran off with her face buried in her hands.

"Owari…" 

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Tokio's younger sister asked as they watched the girl run towards the woods. 

"No…She needs to go be angry for a while. She needs to be alone. She loves her father and she misses him. She's just lonely because the other children are so mean to her."

"You do know why they're mean to her, don't you?" 

"Of course I do, Tokei. I also know what they think of me. My husband is not around and I can still live comfortably with our daughter. They think that I'm the town whore. I work hard to take care of Owari and he works hard to provide for us. He sends me money every time he gets paid. That is how we are able to live here. I would never dishonor my wedding vows."

"Don't you care how this affects Owari? She's suffering because of her father's absence. He's been gone for two years. She probably doesn't even remember what he looks like."

"It's not his fault. He does what they want him to do. It's his job." Tokio smiled faintly to herself, "If any one is to blame, it's me. I'm the one who fell in love." She paused, hanging a kimono on the line, "I would love for him to come home. Every time I am able to write to him, I say as much. 'Come home' I tell him. 'We miss you.' But it isn't so simple. He has not abandoned us, but he cannot leave whenever he pleases. Owari doesn't understand this."

"You can't expect her to. She's only six. To her, it must seem as if he is gone because he doesn't care about you. You know what kind of man he is. Even when he's here, he doesn't show that much affection to either of you."

Her sister was right and Tokio knew it. She had bittersweet memories of all the good-byes, the returns, the gifts he'd brought her. She knew he went everywhere in the country, from Tokyo to Kyoto, and that some of the things he did had potential to get very dangerous. His last letter had hinted at something dreadfully serious and she was worried. Would he make it home this time? 

*

Dusk began to fall.

Owari sat against a tree, her knees drawn up to her chest. She absently poked at an anthill with a stick. Her thin face was tear-streaked and wet from crying, strands of hair fell into her eyes. She had stopped crying and was no longer angry. More than anything, she was lonely.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps from somewhere within the trees. She rose slowly to her feet, clutching the stick in her hands. If Hokori and Koman were coming back, she would settle the score. Father had taught her to be brave and she had every intention of doing just that.

A dark form moved through the trees. It was certainly not either of the Zankoku girls and Owari was terrified that it might have been some sort of monster. Her heart pounding, she shuffled slightly forward, her hands trembling. She could see a faint red light glowing from where the creature stood in the woods. Was it a demon? It didn't matter. She had to do something. That thing wasn't going to get to the village where it could hurt her mama.

Gathering all her courage, she ran forward, the stick held out before her. "Aku soku zan!" _Kill evil instantly. _Her father had taught her that phrase. She couldn't hesitate if it meant keeping her mama safe. Her eyes squeezed shut; she swung the stick wildly…

…And didn't hit anything. Stopping dead in her tracks, she looked around the forest. Where had the demon gone?

Laughter drifted out from the trees. She whirled around wildly, looking for its source. "Go away!" She yelled, "Go away, you evil thing! I won't let you hurt me or my mama. I'm not afraid! Nothing'll hurt me any more!"

"Have I hurt you very much already, Owari?" A vaguely familiar, disembodied voice asked from somewhere in the woods.

"…?" She followed the sound of the voice. It lead her back to the edge of the woods where there stood a tall, thin man in a blue police officer's uniform. A sword hung at his side and he was smoking a cigarette. "…Father?"

"Were you crying, puppy?" He asked calmly as he flicked the cigarette butt to the ground. She was bigger than he remembered, her serious expression more like his. Crouching to be level with her, he held out a hand. "Come here. Tell me why you were crying." 

"I was angry…" She whispered, "They wouldn't let me play and they were saying bad things about you. She slapped me. Mama tried to make it better, but I cried anyway. I'm not strong like you want me to be and I was angry."

"Who slapped you? Not your mother…"

"No. Mama would never hurt me. Koman hit me because she couldn't make me cry."

"Koman…? You mean Zankoku's older girl, right? Did you hit her back?"

"Uh-uh." Owari shook her head, "You shouldn't hurt people weaker than you, right? It isn't fair."

A dangerous smile crossed her father's face. "So I've been told." He removed a piece of hair from her eyes, "Still goes in your face like mine, huh? Let me get a good look at you. You don't look enough like your mother. Too much like me." 

Frowning, the girl looked her father in the eyes. "I missed you. Mama missed you too. We were lonely."

"I'm sorry. I missed both of you. I don't like going away, but I have to. And I met a lot of interesting people while I was gone."

"Tell me about it?"

"Maybe." He stood back up, "Now let's go home. I'm sure you're mother's worried about you."

"She'll be happy to see you, Father."

"I'll be happy to see her. Did you get the kimono I sent you for your birthday?"

She nodded, smiling. "You didn't forget. Arigato, Father."

"You're welcome, puppy."

"Why do you call me that?"

"Because." He patted her on the head, "It fits you nicely." He remembered Tokio's laughter when she told him he would be a father. "The wolf of Mibu is going to have a puppy" She had told him teasingly. And with Owari becoming more and more like him with each passing day, it was the truth. Her attack with the stick had more than proven this. His puppy impressed him; she would grow up to make a fine wolf someday.

Walking through the village towards their home, the two passed Koman and Hokori Zankoku. Owari pointedly slid her hand into her father's and marched past the sisters, her head held high. Both girls were gaping; they had never before seen Owari's father. All they knew of him was what their father said: he was a dangerous, deadly man with the same cruel eyes as his child.

"Could that really be her father, Koman?" Hokori asked her sister in a loud whisper.

"He has a sword!" Koman responded, her eyes wide with fright, "He's just as wicked as Papa said."

"Wicked?" He looked back over his shoulder at the girls, "I am not doing anything wrong by carrying my sword. Policemen are allowed to have them." There was a dreadful silence as he peered at them through narrow eyes. His golden gaze came to rest on the older of the two. "Koman, is it? I would suggest that you not strike Owari ever again. It would not be very befitting for the daughter of a prominent man such as your father to be arrested," He smiled cheerfully, "Now would it?"

"N-no, Sir…Saito-san." Koman stammered. She was visibly frightened, her body trembled with fear.

"Apologize to her."

"G-gomen nasai, Owari." The girl bowed slightly.

"You might as well apologize too." He looked at Hokori, "You can't be much better than your sister."

"Sumimasen." Hokori said quickly.

"Now then…You had better get on home. And tell your father the wolf of Mibu has returned." He was well aware of how Iyashii Zankoku terrorized the rest of the villagers, using his wealth as a way to seize power. Tokio wrote to him with any and every piece of information she could while he was away. He also knew full well that Iyashii was terrified of him. He had the upper hand in the situation. 

Owari watched in amusement as her father belittled and embarrassed the two girls. She never knew how much power he had. The sisters seemed petrified with fear. She laughed to herself, understanding for the first time why he told her to be strong and brave. The Zankokus were cowards.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked coldly, "Go!"

Both girls jumped about a foot off the ground as he barked the order at them. Then they turned and ran.

"Father," Owari laughed, "You scared them."

"I suppose I did." He looked down at her. Her eyes closed the same way his did when she smiled. He wondered how many times Tokio had looked at their daughter and seen him in her. His poor wife must have suffered so much, having Owari reminding her every day that he wasn't there simply because the girl looked like him. 

*

Tokio was in back of their house, calling for Owari. "Come on home, Owari! It's time for dinner!" She was getting worried. The little girl rarely stayed out after it began to get dark. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but Owari was obedient and went home when her mother told her to. 

She strained to hear Owari's voice answering back. Usually there would be a "Coming Mama!" then the little girl would come scampering from the trees. That night, however, Owari did not come.

Worried over this, Tokio turned back to the house. Owari had been very angry when she left. Perhaps she hadn't gone to her usual spot in the woods. Perhaps she was at her aunt's house. Or perhaps she'd run away. That thought terrified her more than anything.

Sliding open the door, she nearly thought she'd died. There stood her husband, their daughter in his arms. "Hajime? What are…? When did you…?" A relieved smile crossed her face, "You're back."

"Hello, Tokio." He set the little girl down, "You look well."

"So do you. I've been worried sick. I'm glad you came home safely. I was afraid that…that…" She wiped away the tears filling her eyes.

"I'm fine. Got a little beat up, but nothing serious. Typical in my line of work." He smiled slightly, hugging her. It had been a lot worse than he let on, he had been hurt pretty bad, but there was no use in worrying her. And he would certainly never let her know he had led his companions to believe he had died when Shishio's headquarters went up in flames. She would only get angry with him and he didn't want that as soon as he returned.

"I missed you."

"So the puppy told me." He smiled down at Owari, then looked back up at his wife, "It smells good in here. What's for dinner?"

"Soba." Her own smile widened. Every time he came home, it was as if he had never been gone. He just picked up with his life as it had been when he left. Same old Hajime. He never changed.

"My favorite."

"I know." She kissed him, "Welcome home."


End file.
